Tuesday, December 18, 2007

135:1 Praise the Lord!Praise the name of the Lord,give praise, O servants of the Lord,2 who stand in the house of the Lord,in the courts of the house of our God!3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;sing to his name, for it is pleasant! [1]4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,Israel as his own possession.

5 For I know that the Lord is great,and that our Lord is above all gods.6 Whatever the Lord pleases, he does,in heaven and on earth,in the seas and all deeps.7 He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,who makes lightnings for the rainand brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

8 He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,both of man and of beast;9 who in your midst, O Egypt,sent signs and wondersagainst Pharaoh and all his servants;10 who struck down many nationsand killed mighty kings,11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,and Og, king of Bashan,and all the kingdoms of Canaan,12 and gave their land as a heritage,a heritage to his people Israel.

13 Your name, O Lord, endures forever,your renown, [2] O Lord, throughout all ages.14 For the Lord will vindicate his peopleand have compassion on his servants.

15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,the work of human hands.16 They have mouths, but do not speak;they have eyes, but do not see;17 they have ears, but do not hear,nor is there any breath in their mouths.18 Those who make them become like them,so do all who trust in them!

19 O house of Israel, bless the Lord!O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!20 O house of Levi, bless the Lord!You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!21 Blessed be the Lord from Zion,he who dwells in Jerusalem!Praise the Lord!

Here they are tail-gating again, standing in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. So while your at is sing the songs you know. Not the ones from the bar, but the one your parents taught you handed down from generation to generation about how good God has been. About how it's not because of our goodness or beauty but simply because God has chosen to make us his own.

Don't just get caught up in the act of singing or going to church. Remember this God who you are singing to. He is amazing and better than the other Gods. He is really the one who controls the sky and sea, wind and rain. When you see him coming on a cloud make sure you know who it is.

In that song you will hae to remember the redemption of our fathers. Especially out of Egypt. How God passed over our kids. It is amazing to me that Aidyn has already latched on to that story, one I found very hard to teach her, and hard to teach the kids in the first communion class. Yet it is central to our story. The story of Jesus is incomplete without an understanding of the Passover.

The idols which get so much of our attentions, "Have mouths, but do not speak, they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears but do not hear..." we serve a living God. Let the idols of our life be exposed for what they are.